Noor Wali Mehsud: “My demand from the Pakistani government is to roll back the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and give FATA a status that was promised by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah with the locals in an agreement”

The peace negotiations between the Pakistani government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, came into the limelight after Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan revealed in October last year that his government was talking to the banned outfit. During the process, spearheaded by Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, a three-star General of the Pakistan Army and the then Commander of Peshawar Corps, multiple Pakistani delegations were sent to negotiate a peace deal with the Emir of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Noor Wali Mehsud. Both sides had announced a months-long ceasefire but eventually, the whole process was met with an indefinite impasse. The Khorasan Diary exclusively interviewed TTP Emir Noor Wali Mehsud to know about the future of the peace negotiations as well as other pertinent issues. Below are the excerpts from the interview.

The Khorasan Diary:

In recent statements issued by the TTP and the Government of Pakistan, both sides agreed on the re-initiation of the reconciliation process. What are the reasons, in your opinion, that led to the disruption of the peace process and have you been put under pressure by the Afghan Taliban to talk to the Pakistani government to broker a peace deal?

Noor Wali Mehsud:

The drone attack that took place in Kabul has been the biggest hurdle in taking the negotiations process ahead as far as I can think. This, paired with the domestic political turmoil in Pakistan has been the main reason the process could not move ahead. As far as the Islamic Emirate is concerned, it has never pressured us to go into the negotiations although they advised us in favour of it.

The Khorasan Diary:

In your book, Inqilab-e-Mehsud, you have highlighted the history of the TTP on the first page while talking to Umar Media recently you declared a deal on the “independence” of the tribal areas a “Red Line”. What does that mean? Do you want complete independence from the state of Pakistan or some kind of semi-autonomy? In case of the reversal of the merger of tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, would you want the areas to be governed under the British Frontier Crimes Regulations again?

Noor Wali Mehsud:

My demand from the Pakistani government is to roll back the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and give FATA a status that was promised by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah with the locals in an agreement.  Nowhere in our statements or the documents of the peace agreement have we ever mentioned re-implementing Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) in the tribal areas and we believe that it was never a part of the original tribal culture. It was forcefully imposed by the British government while they were escaping after suffering a loss in the region. The tribal people have been against FCR from the first day till date. How can I like or support such a draconian system?

The Khorasan Diary:

During the last two years, your outfit has claimed multiple times that it does not have any connection with any international Jihadist outfit anymore but despite that, factions like Amjad Farooqi Group and Ustad Ahmad Farooq Group have joined the TTP after you started bringing the various Pakistan-based militant groups together. These groups have been a part of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent in the past. What is the principle policy of the TTP vis-à-vis Al Qaeda?

Noor Wali Mehsud:

At this time, Mujahideen all over the world are smaller in number as well as lower on resources against the “enemies of Islam”, hence Tehreek-e-Taliban maintains that fighting these enemies from one platform or a single unified organization will be counterproductive and against basic logic and war strategies. Reducing the number of fronts during a time when Muslims were weaker in number was part of the war strategy of the Prophet himself who used to instruct his followers not to wage war at multiple fronts on such occasions. This is the principle difference that differentiates us from Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is a global organisation while we (TTP) do not have any foreign agenda. Our fight is only against Pakistani security organisations. Yes, some individuals and factions have joined TTP but they have done so after parting ways with Al Qaeda’s ideology of a global struggle and after embracing “manhaj” and have joined us in our fight against the Pakistani security apparatus only.

The Khorasan Diary:

There have been reports of the forceful evacuation of TTP members along with their families from the areas bordering the Pakistani tribal region to the Southern provinces of Afghanistan by the Afghan Taliban. There have also been recent incidents where multiple known TTP figures have been killed, while in Kunar the house of Maulvi Abdullah Bajauri came under siege from the Afghan Taliban and he later got targeted in an IED attack. Who do you think is behind these incidents and what are your terms with the regime in Kabul?

Noor Wali Mehsud:

Overall, we enjoy a good relationship with the Islamic Emirate.

The Khorasan Diary:

The TTP claims, time and again, that it is carrying out its attacks in Pakistan from within the country and does not use Afghan soil but we have seen that many notable commanders of the outfit have been killed in Afghanistan. The presence of these commanders remains a cause of tension between Kabul and Islamabad. Do you think this could affect the relationship between the Islamic Emirate and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan?

Noor Wali Mehsud:

We maintain our old stance and reaffirm that our enemy and target is only the Pakistani security apparatus and we are fighting against them from within Pakistan itself. In such a scenario, the notion that anything might disturb the relationship between us and the emirate is misconstrued and far from reality.

The Khorasan Diary:

How much headway has been made in the investigation of the death of Umar Khalid Khorasani so far? Have you been able to identify an individual or an entity behind it?

Noor Wali Mehsud:

The investigations into the attack on Omar Khalid Khorasani are still underway but one thing that is clear to us is that there was a definite involvement of Pakistani secret agencies in the attack.

The Khorasan Diary:

The Islamic Emirate and other big Jihadist organisations have openly come out against Islamic State in the Khorasan province and have even declared them “Khawarij” before starting armed operations against them. The TTP’s stance on the Islamic State is not as clear. Can you clarify what is TTP’s official stance on ISKP?

Noor Wali Mehsud:

We have clarified our stance time and again on this issue in the past.

The Khorasan Diary:

You have been designated as an “international terrorist” by the United States of America as well as the United Nations. Do you think you could also come under an attack similar to the one in which Al Qaeda’s leader Aiman Al Zawahiri was killed?

Noor Wali Mehsud:

As a human, death is certain for everyone. If dying in an American drone attack is my fate, so be it.

The Khorasan Diary:

The TTP seems to be hinting at support for Baloch nationalists and secular armed outfits ince you became the leader of the Pakistani Taliban. Does any kind of coordination, armed or otherwise, exist between the TTP and Baloch armed outfits and is there a possibility of such an alliance in the future?

Noor Wali Mehsud:

Baloch as an ethnicity has always been oppressed by the security forces of Pakistan and as fellow Muslims, it is our duty to help them. We have not been able to help them so far because of our own shortcomings and weaknesses but we are trying to extend our struggle to the Baloch lands on a large scale so that we can truly avenge the atrocities committed against the Baloch nation.

The Khorasan Diary:

If the peace negotiations between the TTP and the state of Pakistan succeed, will the TTP agree with its disarmament?

Noor Wali Mehsud:

Absolutely not!